First Plant the Sapling: Tu B’shvat and Our Spiritual Intention

Are you in automatic-drive?  Do you sometimes recognize a void where intention should exist?  This quest is at the root of our congregation’s Jewish Meditation offerings, Fridays 5-5:30 pm, Saturdays 9-9:10am and monthly 2nd Wednesdays 6:00-7:00 pm.
The other day, as I was driving east on Spring Garden Street from RS to a congregant’s home at 2nd and Locust Streets, I automatically turned into the right turn lane to prepare to turn off onto 6th Street.  Why did I start to turn at the wrong place?  I knew it wasn’t 2nd Street, but I am used to driving to my in-laws’ on 6th, so that’s where my car automatically goes. Does your car ever just go somewhere?Continue reading

RS Caring Community Mitzvah Meals

IMG_7355 (1)There are times when each one of us must learn to relinquish the illusion that we are self-reliant and to acknowledge that we cannot do it alone.  And there are times when we are able to step forward and support someone else with our compassion.  As members of a congregation, we provide support and we receive support from one another.  If you are a member facing a vulnerable time or health challenge or even a joyous life-change, please share it with our clergy.  And if you would like to join us for fun in the RS kitchen to mitzvah -cook, shop for,  or deliver a meal for a fellow member who can’t get to RS due to health, a recent birth, or mourning, please click here to sign up for RS Caring Community Mitzvah Meals!

 

 

Have You Had a “Good” Year?: End of the Year Giving

As the-end-of-the-year solicitations flood the inbox, this season offers an opportunity for us to consider the Jewish values behind the righteous giving–the tzedakah–we choose to do.

A Yiddush story:  A wealthy Jewish citizen named Reb Yitzchak is preparing his daughter’s wedding.  Reflecting the ethos of the shtetl, all the poorest members of the community, including those who beg for tzedakah in the marketplace, are to be honored guests at the celebration.

However, this time the poor are tired of being taken for granted.  This group of shnorrers (not a nice word—story’s word, not mine) will not be paid off by one hot meal and lip service about how beloved they are.  These men and women take a stand—by going on strike!Continue reading

The Burning Bush: The Fire Within

In his D’var Torah last Shabbat, Rabbi Kuhn challenged us to wrestle with the question: what is my purpose?

At the end of each book of Torah, there is a gap, a space.  There is a legend that the white spaces in Torah are known as “white fire,” and the words of Torah are written in “black fire.”  There is an extra amount of white fire between each book.  So, last week we completed the study of the Book of Genesis, and tonight we begin anew with our study of the Book of Exodus.  The extra space between Genesis and Exodus can represent a pause, a time for us to stop and think about our lives, and a chance to change, and to consider the meaning of our lives.Continue reading

Tzedakah on “Giving Tuesday”

Giving Tuesday!  You have heard of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and for the day after all of that consuming, now there’s Giving Tuesday! This Hanukkah and Thanksgiving season, give tzedakah to your favorite cause, or for suggestions, check out this month’s favorites in the Berkman Mercaz Limud (Religious School):  The students are giving this trimester’s collected tzedakah to Hazon (food sustainability), Chosen 300 Soup Kitchen, and Union for Reform Judaism Disaster Relief for the Philippines.

An Inscription for the Building Expansion

  • In addition to the name Congregation Rodeph Shalom, the front of the building expansion will include a purpose-driven quotation from Jewish tradition.  We value your ideas and hope you will participate!  Please submit your suggestion to the clergy and leadership through Charlene McDonald at cmcdonald@rodephshalom.org.

Israel and the Changing Middle East: Trudy Rubin Speaking at RS

Join us to hear Trudy Rubin, the Philadelphia Inquirer columnist, speak on “Israel and the Changing Middle East,” Wed., Nov. 20 at 7:00 pm.   Rubin will lead a provocative discussion about how Iran talks, a crumbling Syria, and a new military in Egypt will have an impact on Israel.  Check out her latest column: Seeking a ‘Good Enough’ Iran Deal.

Thank you to the Joseph J. & Lulu S. Rosenbluth Fund for sponsoring.Continue reading

Bugs in My Kale: Bringing Intention to Our Food

Thank you to the many members of the community and beyond who have become deeply engaged in the conversation: “What is Your Food Worth,” a partnership with the Feinstein Center at Temple University.  Inspired this fall by Rabbi Kuhn’s Rosh Hashanah sermon, Professor Lila Berman’s keynote “A New Judaism from the Tabletop: Food and the Transformation of American Jewish Life,” the Hazon Food Festival hosted at RS, the screening of “A Place at the Table,” study sessions, the What is Your Food Worth blog, and our congregational blog posts, let us discover how now to move from theory to practice.  

Related thoughts from a recent D’var Torah…   Week after week I bring home my box of CSA vegetables.  Continue reading